Herschel Walker, 1982

Walker ran for 1,616 yards in his junior season, giving him 5,259 over his career — still the NCAA record for rushing yards in three seasons. A gifted all-around athlete, Walker was also an All-American sprinter for Georgia’s track-and-field team (later, he would even ride the bobsled in the Olympics). After winning the Heisman, Walker joined the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and became the fledgling league’s star attraction. In a 2008 book, Walker revealed his struggle with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, a debilitating mental illness. — Sean Gregory